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This article was co-written by Pippa Elliott, MRCVS. Elliott is a veterinarian with more than thirty years of experience in veterinary surgery and pet treatment. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary surgeon. She has worked at a veterinary clinic in her hometown for more than 20 years.
This article has been viewed 30,510 times.
What should you do when you see your hamster lying motionless? What could be the cause? Hamsters occasionally enter a state of hibernation, when their heart rate and breathing rate slow down and they fall into a deep sleep. It can be difficult to tell if a hamster is hibernating or dead. If you see your hamster in this state, do the following.
Steps
Assess the ability of hamsters to hibernate
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Think about whether the hamster has become immobile all of a sudden. Has your rat seemed sick lately? The clues to this are that the hamster has stopped eating or has lost its appetite, is drinking more water than usual and you have to clean its wet bedding more often, the hamster has a bad smell and loses a lot of weight, or its behavior completely changed, for example no more spinning the wheel. All of the above signs indicate that the hamster is sick and possibly dead. [1] X Handbook of Rodent and Rabbit Medicine Research Resources . Laber-Laird & Flecknell. Publisher. Pergamon
- On the other hand, if the hamster appeared to be perfectly healthy before and the immobility occurs suddenly, it is probably hibernating, although the possibility is not ruled out that it is dead.
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How old is your hamster? The average life span of a hamster is 18-24 months, with some babies living up to 36 months. If your hamster is past this age, it is too old, and the chances of it dying are quite high. [2] X Handbook of Rodent and Rabbit Medicine Research Resources . Laber-Laird & Flecknell. Publisher. Pergamon
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Consider the ambient temperature. Hibernation is temperature dependent. If the air in the hamster’s cage is above 20°C, it is unlikely that the hamster will hibernate. If it’s hot, see if the hamster’s cage is near the air conditioner. Air conditioners can emit extremely cold air and put your hamster into hibernation, so don’t ignore the temperature factor, even in hot weather.
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Assess your hamster’s access to food and light. Hibernation often occurs at times when it is difficult for a hamster to find enough supplies to survive. These conditions are often associated with severe winters, when temperatures drop, daylight is short, and food is scarce. [3] X British Hamster Association Research Source . Hibernation in Syrian Hamsters.
- Think about whether your hamster gets 8-12 hours of sunlight a day and plenty of food. Food shortages combined with low temperatures and short daylight can trigger hibernation. [4] X British Hamster Association Research Source . Hibernation in Syrian Hamsters.
Identify a hibernating hamster
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Observe if the hamster is breathing. If there is a possibility that the hamster hibernates, watch your hamster closely for a few minutes. Look for the hamster’s breathing signs. Note that the hamster’s entire body slows down, so breathing may be as short as 2 minutes.
- Watch your hamster for longer than 2 minutes, because in a split second you can miss a breath. If you only observe for exactly 2 minutes, you may think that the hamster is dead.
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Try to check your heart rate. If you can’t see your hamster breathing, feel it to see if its heart is beating. A hamster’s heart rate can slow down dramatically to as much as 4 beats a minute, or 15 seconds a beat. [5] X Handbook of Rodent and Rabbit Medicine Research Resources . Laber-Laird & Flecknell. Publisher. Pergamon
- Hamsters’ heartbeats can be difficult to find because they are so tiny. To do this, place the index finger and thumb of one hand on the side of the hamster’s body, behind its elbow. Gently press in with as much force as you would to keep the hamster from running, but without hurting it. Wait patiently and feel the heartbeat beneath your fingertips.
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Body temperature is not taken into account when distinguishing between hibernation and death. Don’t worry if your hamster feels cold to the touch. A cold hamster is also not necessarily dead. The hibernation process is triggered by the cold and the body temperature drops to match the environment.
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Check the hardness of the hamster’s body. Spasticity is the difference that indicates the hamster is dead. If you touch and feel the hamster is as stiff as wood, your hamster is already in the rigor mortis stage, which means it’s dead.
Wake the hamster from hibernation
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Bring the hamster that you suspect is hibernating into a warm room. Room temperature should be around 20°C. Wait 2-3 days. If the hamster just hibernates, it will wake up within this time. [6] X Handbook of Rodent and Rabbit Medicine Research Resources . Laber-Laird & Flecknell. Publisher. Pergamon
- If the hamster does not wake up, then there will be more obvious signs that it is dead, such as stiffening and a foul odor. A hibernating hamster will not stink.
- Experts recommend choosing this method to wake a hamster, as it is more like a natural awakening process and puts less strain on a hamster’s blood glucose stores than the “quick warm up” method.
- Remember to provide plenty of food and water for the hamster when it wakes up.
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Heating the hamster at a relatively fast rate. Instead of helping your hamster warm up slowly in a warm room, you can warm it up more quickly. Place the hamster cage in a warm place, such as a dish rack. Depending on the temperature, a hamster can wake up within 2-3 hours.
- Be sure to put your hamster in a safe box, because if you just leave it in a cardboard box, it can bite the box and escape when it wakes up!
- Another way is to place the hamster’s cage over a hot water bottle so that the heat radiates up from the bottom of the cage.
- Make sure your hamster has food and water, as it will use up precious energy to wake up and needs to be replenished quickly, or your hamster could suffer liver damage.
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Remember that hibernation is a natural process. If your hamster hibernates, you should understand that it is a natural process, and it will recover. Unless you’re too worried, if your hamster is back to normal activities like eating, grooming, and playing with the wheel, you don’t need to take it to the vet.
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Do not forget that hamsters have a rather short lifespan. If you have tried everything to wake the hamster to no avail, it is probably dead. The life of a hamster is very short, and unfortunately it has already passed its entire life. Eliminate all other possibilities first, but then you may have to accept that your hamster has passed away.
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Prevent the hamster from hibernating in the future. If you don’t want to worry about your hamster hibernating anymore, you need to make sure your hamster is always above 20°C, gets more than 12 hours of light a day, and has plenty of food and water. Thus, the hamster’s body will never understand that it needs to conserve energy and must hibernate.
Advice
- Hamster breeders have always focused on preventing hamsters from going into hibernation. Their advice is to keep the room temperature at 20-21°C year-round, provide 12-14 hours of light per day (light can be used) and plenty of food. When living in this condition, the hamster will feel no need to hibernate and will not hibernate. [7] X Handbook of Rodent and Rabbit Medicine Research Resources . Laber-Laird & Flecknell. Publisher. Pergamon
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This article was co-written by Pippa Elliott, MRCVS. Elliott is a veterinarian with more than thirty years of experience in veterinary surgery and pet treatment. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1987 with a degree in veterinary surgeon. She has worked at a veterinary clinic in her hometown for more than 20 years.
This article has been viewed 30,510 times.
What should you do when you see your hamster lying motionless? What could be the cause? Hamsters occasionally enter a state of hibernation, when their heart rate and breathing rate slow down and they fall into a deep sleep. It can be difficult to tell if a hamster is hibernating or dead. If you see your hamster in this state, do the following.
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